Lawyer claims he has witnesses with different version in Darryl Mount Jr. case

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Just more than three weeks ago, at about 3 a.m. Aug. 31, Darryl Mount Jr. was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries following a foot pursuit by city police, who said he was injured in a fall from scaffolding. Now, the family and their attorney say they have witnesses with a different story.

"Based on our investigation and the witnesses we've spoken to, there was an officer in close proximity to him when he went off that could have contributed to his going off the scaffolding," attorney Bill Montgomery said. He is helping Mount's family to navigate the legal system.

Montgomery said he has taken statements from two individuals who say they witnessed the final stage of the pursuit, when Mount toppled 20 feet from the scaffolding.

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Both witnesses, Montgomery said, do not feel comfortable going to the police with their statements, saying they fear being intimidated or harassed by members of the Saratoga Springs Police Department.

Meanwhile, Mount's family has rallied around him - from keeping a constant vigil at his bedside to holding benefits in his behalf.

On Sept. 20, Mount was transferred to Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady where he remains but, according to family members, holds his eyes open for periods of time and is breathing on his own. These are baby steps the family is incredibly grateful to see in Mount.

At a benefit for Mount on Sunday, at the Fraternal Order of Eagles on Crescent Avenue, the outdoor pavilion housed tables of donations from area businesses -- Hannaford's, The Ripe Tomato, Max London's, Plum Dandy, C & R Drinks and the Publik House -- for a silent auction.

His family raised $3,130 on Sunday, and it was the first time both Mount's mother, Patty Jackson, and her husband, Warren Jackson, both left the hospital at the same time.

During Sunday's benefit, Mount's aunt Polly Saunders described Mount as "smiling, loving, caring and always aggravating." The crowd chuckled, but the truth is, Mount has struggled with, as his aunt describes, "underlying psychological disorders that have made life challenging for him."

Mount, who worked as a banquet waiter, has struggled since he was a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, Saunders said.

His mother and step-father have tried to remedy Mount's psychological issues with medication, counseling and assistance from Four Winds Hospital, she said. Saunders said she had asked Mount, "Why can't you just listen to what we're saying. We're not saying it to be mean, we're not saying it because we don't like you, we're saying it because we do, because we care." After he turned 18, Saunders said, the family felt even more helpless grappling with Mount's disorder. He is now 21.

"There is no place in society for people like this; there's no help for them," she said. "There's no help. Where do you go?"

Saunders said she believes police haven't disclosed the whole truth behind what happened to leave her nephew in a coma and could have handled the incident better.

"We're not stating that Darryl was innocent or didn't do anything wrong," Saunders said, "but it was the way it was handled."

She acknowledges Mount could have handled the encounter with police in a different way, too. Her teenage son, also at Sunday's event, interjected, saying it doesn't matter what Mount did, but Saunders stopped him.

"You don't ever, ever, ever run from the police," she said to her son.

Montgomery is also representing Guy Pierce, who was arrested the same weekend as Mount's encounter with police and alleged he was the victim of police brutality during an incident at Jefferson Terrace. Pierce made an appearance at the Sept. 3 City Council meeting with cuts and bruises on his face.

"This is what the police did to me," Pierce said during the meeting.

In his investigation, Montgomery said he has found that many residents of Jefferson Terrace -- especially those older than 50 -- fear police retaliation, against them and their children.

Montgomery has questions about the events leading up to Mount's fall -- primarily, why six officers would be involved in the pursuit of a man wanted for a misdemeanor attempted assault charge.

"Why are four police officers on foot and two in cruisers chasing this guy down like a dog?" Montgomery said. "There is another reason why they did what they did and it has nothing to do with what they saw on Caroline Street."

Montgomery said he thinks the foot pursuit had little to do with the alleged female victim, as evidenced by the fact not one of the officers went to her to make sure she was alright. Instead, he attributes it to Mount's race and previous run-ins with the police.

Montgomery pointed to the different versions of the event released by the police.

The first press release, issued by Chief of Police Gregory J. Veitch the same day as the pursuit, said police officers tried to approach Mount after they witnessed him "shove a female's head into a brick wall near the corner of Caroline Street and Broadway."

Mount fled from police, the release states, and police pursued him on foot and followed him south on Broadway and into an alley on the north side of the Washington Building at 422 Broadway. Mount continued to run behind the Washington Building and into the construction area at the rear of the building.

"At this point, police officers lost sight of Mr. Mount," the Aug. 31 release states. "An area check was started, and Mr. Mount was located on the ground at the rear of the sidewalk that runs between Gaffney's and Izumi Bar and Grill."

But Veitch updated the story two days later, when he sent out an updated press release on the incident that said Mount "climbed over a railing adjacent to the wooden barrier and onto the scaffolding at the rear of the building."

One officer followed Mount onto the scaffolding and was slowed, according to the updated release, "by the construction area that is a tangle of wood and metal posts and support beams. It was at this point that the following officer lost sight of Mr. Mount briefly."

Contrary to Veitch's report, Montgomery contends there is a question as to whether a struggle ensued before Mount left the scaffolding and also whether a TASER was deployed while Mount was on the scaffolding.

Since the incident, Veitch has maintained the officers involved did nothing wrong, but urged citizens to come forward if they have reason to believe otherwise.

Saunders said she is sick of having her nephew judged on his past and wants people to know that her side of the family is composed of hard-working and productive members of society. Her three sisters, including Mount's mother, are nurses, and recently the eldest alerted doctors at the Albany Medical Center to swelling in Mount's leg that turned out to be a blood clot. Doctors inserted a screen into his groin to catch the clot, if it dislodges, before it gets to his heart.